VeriSilicon's AV2 IP: The Quiet Engine for the Next Video Revolution

SHANGHAI, China – June 09, 2026 – Semiconductor IP provider VeriSilicon has announced that its flagship video processing hardware now supports AV2, the industry’s newest video format. While the announcement may seem like a footnote in the tech world, it represents a critical milestone in the relentless, high-stakes war against bandwidth consumption. This move isn't just about a single component; it's about laying the foundational technology that will determine how we stream, broadcast, and interact with video for the next decade.

VeriSilicon revealed its VC9800D Video Processing Unit (VPU) IP is among the first to offer decoding for AV2, the next-generation video codec from the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia). This puts the company at the forefront of a major technological shift, providing the engine that will allow future devices to handle ultra-high-quality video with unprecedented efficiency.

The Codec Wars: AV2 Enters the Arena

The internet runs on video, and the demand for higher resolution, from 4K to 8K and immersive virtual reality, is putting immense strain on global data infrastructure. This has fueled a quiet but intense battle between technology consortiums to create more efficient video compression standards, or codecs. A better codec means streaming services can deliver the same quality video using significantly less data, or deliver much higher quality using the same amount of data.

AV2 is the successor to the popular royalty-free AV1 codec, backed by a consortium of tech giants including Google, Apple, Netflix, and Amazon. Officially released in late May, the AV2 standard promises a dramatic leap in performance. Early evaluations show it can reduce bitrate by an average of 30-34% compared to AV1 for the same visual quality. This effectively closes the performance gap with VVC (Versatile Video Coding), a competing standard that, despite its technical prowess, has seen sluggish adoption due to a complex and costly royalty structure.

The primary allure of AV2, like its predecessor, is its open and royalty-free licensing model. This is designed to encourage rapid, widespread adoption without the fear of expensive licensing negotiations. However, the landscape is not without its challenges. Patent assertion entities have already announced intentions to form patent pools for AV2, casting a familiar shadow over the “royalty-free” promise. Still, the powerful backing of AOMedia’s members provides a strong tailwind for adoption.

A Strategic Blueprint for the Future of Chips

This is where VeriSilicon’s announcement becomes pivotal. The company doesn't make the smartphones or smart TVs we buy; it designs and licenses the specialized intellectual property (IP) that chipmakers integrate into their own System-on-Chips (SoCs). The VC9800D is a prime example—a highly configurable VPU that acts as a universal translator for video.

Its most significant feature is not just support for AV2, but its ability to handle a vast array of other formats, including AV1, VVC, HEVC/H.265, and older standards. For a device manufacturer, this multi-format capability is a critical strategic advantage. It future-proofs their products, ensuring that a TV or phone sold today will be able to play content encoded in the formats of tomorrow, regardless of which standard ultimately wins a particular market segment.

“As demand for premium video experiences continues to grow across OTT, mobile, automotive, and intelligent multimedia applications, customers are seeking highly efficient video processing solutions that enable the rapid adoption of next-generation video standards,” said Weijin Dai, Chief Strategy Officer at VeriSilicon. The company's work with global customers to accelerate AV2 deployment underscores this commitment. By providing a single, flexible IP block that supports 8K resolution at up to 60 frames per second, VeriSilicon simplifies the enormously complex task of building a modern multimedia device.

The Ripple Effect from Silicon to Screen

The impact of this underlying technology will ripple outward, touching everything from corporate balance sheets to the user's viewing experience. For streaming giants, a 30% reduction in bandwidth translates directly into millions of dollars in savings on content delivery costs. It also enables them to reliably deliver 4K and 8K content to a broader audience, including those without top-tier internet connections.

For consumers, the benefits are more direct. It means less time staring at a buffering icon, faster start times for videos, and the ability to watch higher-quality streams on mobile data plans without hitting a cap as quickly. In the long term, efficient codecs like AV2 are the key enablers for next-generation experiences like mainstream 8K television, high-fidelity cloud gaming, and interactive AR/VR applications that are currently bandwidth-prohibitive.

The integration of this IP will also drive innovation in a range of devices. We can expect to see the technology appear in everything from high-end consumer electronics to the increasingly sophisticated infotainment systems in modern vehicles, where high-quality video is becoming a standard feature.

The Long Road to an Efficient Future

Despite the excitement, it’s important to maintain a pragmatic perspective. AV2’s impressive compression gains come at the cost of significantly higher computational complexity. Some experts note that decoding the new format in software would be a challenge for many current processors, making dedicated hardware acceleration—the very thing VeriSilicon provides—an absolute necessity for widespread adoption.

History shows that the transition to a new codec is a marathon, not a sprint. While VeriSilicon is an early mover, the industry expects it will take 5 to 7 years before a critical mass of AV2-capable devices are in consumers' homes. Early deployments will likely be led by software-based decoding on high-end devices and servers, followed by a gradual rollout of hardware-accelerated products across different price points.

VeriSilicon's move signals the official start of this transition. By putting a stake in the ground with a market-ready AV2 solution, it has fired the starting gun for its competitors in the IP space and provided a clear pathway for device manufacturers. The race for the next generation of video has begun, and it's being fought not on our screens, but deep within the silicon that powers them.